Points of View

Julian Barnes's Flaubert's Parrot is written in several points of view and styles. Some chapters use a first person narrative. Others use a third person omnipresent perspective. Although the novel problematizes our knowledge of the past, the narrator is reliable and trustworthy.

Some chapters use a third person perspective. In most cases, these are the chapters where Barnes deviates from the typical fiction chapter. He includes a chapter that consists of a list of dates, a "dictionary" chapter, and an examination chapter. These chapters are unexpected in a work of fiction, but further the theme of the incompleteness of facts and the past.

Other chapters use a first person narrative, most often from Geoffrey Braithwaite's perspective, although there is one chapter from Louise Colet's perspective. These chapters reveal the inner thoughts of the characters. In Louise Colet's chapter we also see her perspective about her relationship...